The Gift
by Exeterra
Summary: This is a bit of an x-over of most types of media...anyway. Emily is new in the town of Stouffville, and she meets some strange people. But when she starts seeing things she knows can't be true... Special thanks to my friend Natasha for co-writing this. :
1. Chapter 1

I turned the page. I was in the middle of a really good book; it was called Twilight. It's about vampires and werewolves and a human girl that gets mixed up with them. I had started it yesterday.

Just then, my little brother wailed, "mom, I feel carsick!"

My mom didn't turn from the driver seat. "Emily," she said, "Please entertain your brother. It won't be much longer until we arrive."

Did I forget to mention that I had lived in Toronto my ENTIRE LIFE, and now my mom was dragging me off to some small, nearly non-existent town called Stouffville? We had been in the car a while, getting all of the worst traffic on the highway. Of course, I had WARNED my mother not to leave on a Sunday, but who ever listens to a 12 year old girl?

Also, my father had died when I had only been 7. My mom worked hard to provide for us, and we had a pretty good life, considering. We were moving because of a job opportunity for my mom.

Anyway, I looked at my brother in a way that said plainly, _I am NOT entertaining you. Just shut your mouth and suck it up until we get there._

And with that I turned back to my book.

Soon, we arrived at our new house. I immediately jumped out of the car and breathed in a big gust of the clean air. Then I ran around the car to the trunk and pulled out the bag that I had brought along. The rest of my things were in a moving van that clearly hadn't arrived yet.

I ran up the front steps, and waited impatiently for my mom to unlock the door—she had the keys. Finally, I raced upstairs and claimed my room; mom had showed me the blueprints on the computer, which was now packed in a box on its way here.

Anyway, I sat on the unadorned window seat, looking around at my room, about the same size as the one I had left, and out the window at the green, green landscape. There hadn't been much green in Toronto.

Eventually, the trucks got here. My mom set up our bedrooms first, since out bedroom items were the most accessible to get out of the moving van. So, I sat on my bed reading as my mother, downstairs, arranged and rearranged the furniture with the help of the moving men.

When it got later, around nine o'clock, she came in and told me lights out. I was alright with that; the move had left me wiped.

The next morning, I was dead on my feet. I had woken up about seven times in the middle of the night, and each time I had read from Twilight until I fell asleep again. However, I was awoken from my waking sleep by my mom, saying, "Emily, are you going to order or not?"

I had completely forgotten that we were in a small restaurant for breakfast. I was so tired. I quickly scanned the menu. It was number arranged. Hmm. Okay pancakes—number seven. "I'll take number seven, please," I said aloud.

Breakfast was slow and torturous. As was the rest of that week. I dwindled away the time by playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl on our Wii.

That is, the week was boring until Saturday the next week.

I had been forced to go for a walk by my mom, who strongly disapproved of my couch-potato-ing ways. So, I walked over to a park, which was more just a field. That was where I saw them.

There were three of them and they were all huddled up by the only tree in the park. The tall thin one had short brown hair and golden brown eyes. She was wearing a tight red and black t-shirt and a short black miniskirt with fishnet leggings. Her feet were bare and a pair of combat boots were discarded beside her. She was also inhumanly pale, and I couldn't tell at that distance, but it looked like she had pointed ears. It gave me the creeps.

The girl on the other side of her had pretty waist length blond hair. She was listening to the tall girl very intently, her short, navy blue, plain dress swirling around her black leggings in a sudden gust of wind. Her eyes were a pretty blue.

The last girl had her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her black and white knee length plaid skirt. She was wearing a white tank top and a black half jacket overtop. She was looking at the ground, her face hidden by short, stylish, spiky brown hair.

Suddenly, she looked up. Straight at me. I gasped. She had two different coloured eyes. One was electric blue and the other was emerald green. She fixed me with a piercing stare. Then she turned to the tall girl and said something really fast. They all looked up and glared at me. To my horror, they started walking towards me. I considered running away, but I decided that the tall girl would probably catch up with me pretty fast.

Then, I heard a cheery voice say, "Hi! My name is River."

I looked up, and noticed that it had been the pretty blond girl that had spoken.

This had earned her an elbow from the tall girl, who whispered fiercely in a musical voice, "River! You are a GOTH, remember?"

The girl named River immediately sobered down.

Suddenly, the tall girl tensed, and then looked annoyed. She whispered, "Not now, Edward."

Edward, I thought? Like, Twilight-Edward? No, I must just be thinking that because I'm reading the book, that's all, I told myself.

"Excuse me," I said politely, hoping for an explanation, "but who are you talking to?"

"Oh!" said the tall girl. "Um…my…shoulder devil. Yes. Um, his name is Edward, and he wants me to…to…blow up Russia!" she looked relieved that she had come up with an explanation, and then, as if to prove her point, scolded her shoulder, saying, "No, Edward. We aren't allowed to blow up countries."

The girl with mismatched eyes sighed and whispered, "Terra…"

So that was the name of the tall girl, then. Terra. So then…who was the last girl?

"Yes, April?" said Terra. So now I was at the advantage, as I knew their names, but they didn't know mine.

The one named April said, "Oh, nothing…just, tell your shoulder devil to shut up, that's all."

Then, River said loudly, "Emmett! What do you want?"

All three, including River froze, and Terra and April turned to face her. I noticed that Terra's ears weren't pointed, and she wasn't as pale as I had first thought. Then, River, squeaked out an "oops!"

Then, she made a nice save, although she STILL failed, by saying, "oh, um, Emmett is MY shoulder devil, ad he wants me to…brainwash…the president of the United States!"

Then all three turned and glared at the same spot in thin air, but I couldn't find anything special about it.

Then they turned back to me. Then, out of the blue, Terra's eyes widened, and she stepped forward, peering deeply into my eyes.

"Your eyes…" she said, "there is something different about them…"

April craned around her to get a look, and her eyes widened also, as if in disbelief.

"Terra," she breathed. "Terra, she can see."

Now I was being stared at by all of the three Goth girls. They didn't strike me as the type who would be Goths. Then, Terra, without breaking eye contact, groped around behind her and pulled some random air forward, taking a step back. "Can you see him?" she asked excitedly. She seemed to have forgotten she was a Goth, as she was now smiling widely. It struck me that she was very beautiful, more so smiling.

River had started bouncing on the spot, and April was just staring at her expectantly.

"Um," I said, "see who, exactly?"

Terra unclenched her hand from whatever she had been holding, and looked down. River's face fell. April looked a bit surprised, but not at all disappointed.

"I thought," said Terra, "that you said she could see."

"And I thought she could," said April, "but apparently I was wrong."

"But you're never wrong about this kind of stuff!" Terra cried indignantly.

"Um," I said, by now very weirded out. "I have to go."

"Bye, Emily," said River, still a bit upset, but getting happier.

"Uh," I said, "How, do you know my name?"

"Yes, River," said April mechanically, "how DO you know her name?"

"Uh, uh, well…she just…looks like an Emily?" she said. Ooh, nice save. Oh well, there was something fishy going on. I would find it out.

I started leaving. When I had crossed the street, a boy who looked about 14 came sprinting down the street, a smile plastered to his face in quite the same way that his sopping red hair was plastered to his head. But his hair wasn't the only wet thing—he was soaked and spraying water everywhere as he ran. I followed him with my eyes as he zipped past.

He ran straight to the three girls, still standing where I had left them. Before he even got there, he bellowed, "TERRA! THERE'S A FIRE BY THE LAKE!!!" At this, he smiled even wider, if possible.

Terra turned and looked between me and the boy. Funny; he looked exactly the way I had pictured Luke from a book I had read, called Eight Days of Luke.

"What now, Luke?" said Terra, seeming irritated. Luke, apparently the boy's name, ran over and started talking. Terra held up her hand to stop him, and then looked at me. She waved me over, her face serious. I walked over.

"You saw him," she said.

"Of course I did. Why wouldn't I?" I replied. "He is a person, after all."

"You don't know the half of it," she replied. River giggles. April was looking at me intently.

Terra looked at Luke. "Go on," she told him.

"Well," he said, "well, there was a fire by the lake, and I had NOTHING to do with it, really!" Terra gave him a look that plainly said that she didn't believe him. He went on, not caring, "and Link was in the building." Whoa! Link, like from brawl? Anyway, at this, Terra paled. She was as pale as she had first seemed. She sparkled for a second—I swear—before regaining her composure, and then she stopped sparkling and wasn't QUITE so pale, but her voice shook as she said, "and? Is he…okay?"

"Oh, yeah," Luke said, seeming unfazed by her worry. "He jumped out a window, and ran straight into the lake—he was on fire a little—or, maybe…a…lot… But he got dragged down by all his weapons—I didn't know a person could have so many! Anyway, he was almost drowning, so I jumped in after him and dragged him out. Luckily, he didn't need mouth-to-mouth, since I was the only one there who could see him."

Terra rolled her eyes, smiling. "And where is he now?"

"He's just by the lake right now, but he told me to tell you he'd be here as soon as he got his breath."

"Okay. Thank you. It was…nice of you to save him. I didn't know you had it in you. And I shall have to say something to him about lugging all of those weapons around." She paused. River broke in, saying, "Luke, you're soaked! Do you want me to…?" she trailed off, giving him a look, but a look I knew I wasn't supposed to be in on. Otherwise she would have said it aloud. Luke nodded. River looked at him, and somehow, a second later he was dry, standing in a puddle.

"Thank you, River," said Terra, "that will do." River stepped back. When I looked at April, she was still studying me with her mismatched eyes. "Well, Luke," said Terra, "About that fire…" Luke snapped his fingers, as if to say, shoot! I thought she would forget about that!

"I'm sorry, Luke," she said, "But, as much as I would like to, I can't let you let that building burn to the ground. You'll have to put it out. I'm sorry, but it is our responsibility to keep you in check."

Luke's face fell. He said, "That's what I thought you'd say."

"Don't take that the wrong way," chimed River, "It is a beautiful fire, I'm sure, but people might get hurt. Do I need to remind you that you can't bring the dead—"

"Back to life," Luke finished, looking happier. "Yeah, I know. But it really is a great fire, a true inferno if I do say so myself. You should come see it!" He was looking very proud of himself.

"I'm sure it will be in all the papers tomorrow," Terra said icily.

"Okay, I'll go. See you later then." And he was off.

"Bye, Luke!" Terra called. River added, "See you around!" April just said, "Ta-ta."

"Hey, listen, Emily," said Terra. "I know we just met and all, but do you want to come over to my house for dinner? April, River, Luke, and our friends Fred and George will be there, too. You in?"

"Um," I hesitated, "o…okay, but I'll have to ask my mom." I only said that because they weren't the type I would like to mess with, but I was sure my mom would want me to help unpack boxes.

"Oh, your mom," said Terra, with a sly smile, eyes glinting, "I'm sure she won't mind."

"O…kay? Well, see you around, I guess."

"Yes, tonight. At six, my house. 77 Mallard. Don't forget. Oh well, even if you do, you mother won't. Bye!"

"Bye."

"Bye!" River chimed.

"Good riddance, muggle," muttered April.

I let that last one slide. I walked quickly home, not daring to look back, even though I could feel their eyes boring into my back.

Well, what can I say? Terra was right; my mom thought it was a great idea. In a distant kind of way. She said it in a detached way, "Sure you can go. It is a good way to get to know new people."


	2. Chapter 2

So, there I was at Terra's house for dinner. Her parents were out.

We were sitting all along her dining table, and it was so long, it could've sat about fifty people. The ceiling was high and lofty, and put me in mind of a castle.

In fact, her entire house was somewhat castle-ish, only smaller than a real one. Her house was really big for a house, though. I was guessing it was like, 700 years old.

We all had a plate in front of us. On one side of me was Terra, and on the other was an empty seat. Two seats to the left of Tierra was Luke. Directly across from me was River, then someone who I guessed was George, who looked like George Weasley, and he only had one ear. Beside him was someone who looked remarkably like him, only with two ears, and then April.

My plate was heaped with food, as was everyone else's. It was absolutely delicious. When I told Terra so, she dismissed the compliment, saying, "I once took a cooking class with a famous French chef—I think his name was Louis something."

I had never heard of any French chefs before, so I had no clue if this person was really a famous chef, but the food WAS pretty good.

River was ravenously wolfing down her pile of mashed potatoes with gourmet gravy, and then moving on to her heaps of carrots and her steak. Everything was cooked to perfection.

April ate slowly, her eyes never leaving my face. George and Fred were just eating like normal humans. Luke watched in amazement as River's food disappeared, with an occasional bite of food hastily shoveled in his mouth. At one point, when she was almost finished, he said in an announcer-like voice, "And here she goes, ready for the final stretch. She speeds it up to a sprint…"

She stopped and looked at him. He grinned and said "What?" innocently.

Terra didn't eat at all.

Not a morsel of the meal had made its way into her mouth. No one seemed to think much of it, aside from me.

"Are you gonna finish that?" River asked her, and it sounded almost teasing. Terra wordlessly shoved her plate over to River, who began shoveling it in, slower than before, so Luke couldn't announce her.

"Um…" I said, unsure whether this question would cross some invisible boundary. "Terra…" She looked up. "Um…Why aren't you eating?"

River looked at her, wide eyed. Terra's gaze went from River to April, who nodded.

Terra said, "Okay. You have to promise, _promise _me that you won't tell ANYONE about this, and do NOT scream. Someone might hear. Oh! But first… do you recognize any of these three?" She indicated Fred, George, and Luke.

"Um…well, they look kind of like characters from some books I once read."

Luke snorted. Terra's face lit up. "There's a start," she said.

"Well," said River, "That's because they are! Emily, I would like to introduce you to Fred and George Weasley, and Luke—the Master of Mischief and Lord of Fire."

My jaw dropped. Then I closed it and laughed. "Oh, sure," I said, "and I'm the Easter Bunny!"

Terra looked hurt, although it was nothing to the theatrical tragic face Luke had put on, and River looked shocked, as though she had expected me to believe her. April looked…nothing, as only April could.

Then Terra's face brightened. "I have an i-deeeee-aaaa!" she sang.

"Oh," said April, "I see. That will work."

River looked at April, then Terra, then me. Then realization crossed her face. "Oh," she said, "are you sure that she can handle it?"

"I don't know," replied Terra, "but it's all we've got."

She stood up, and walked over to a spot behind my chair. "Turn around," she told me. I did. I was now facing her. I turned and looked at River, who looked uneasy, and April who looked…nothing, as usual.

"Okay," said Terra again. "Do NOT scream, and do NOT leave the house, or try anyway. I doubt you would get five steps. Okay, just don't freak out."

I nodded, afraid and quite convinced they were all telling the truth.

Then, Terra nodded back, and closed her eyes. She was standing with her arms loosely at her sides and her feet slightly apart. Her head was slightly angled upward.

Her outline began to fuzz. Soon her entire form looked like a human coloured blob of static fuzz—the kind you get when you flick to a channel on TV that you don't get. The static was getting paler all the time.

Then all the bits came together again, regrouping and making the shape of a person—Terra.

All of this lasted about a second. When the fuzz cleared, she was standing there, only she was different. She was paler, and her ears WERE pointed, and she looked more like when I first saw her. Her features were angular, and her golden eyes seemed to almost glow. She stared at me, and I realized my mouth had been hanging agape. I hastily shut it. Then, still looking at me, she walked over to where a square of sunlight came through the high windows and shone on the floor. She paused a second before stepping into the light.

She exploded.

Or at least, that's what it looked like; she was really only sparkling, shining insanely like a star fallen from the sky.

Like Edward Cullen.

"It usually happens faster," said Terra, "But I slowed it down for you. I can do it in a millisecond, so no one but vampires can see it."

I suddenly put two and two…and two and two and two together. Terra must be…

"A vampire, yes," said April dryly, inspecting her nails. "A bit of a shock at first, isn't it?"

"But—how did you…" I trailed off; no longer surprised that she could read my mind.

"No, I can't read your mind; I can see it in your aura."

"Yeah," chimed River, "That's how I knew your name—April told me before we came over to you. Your aura was shining like a beacon!"

I looked down. But then I looked up again, this time curious, and I said, "Why can I see Luke and Fred and George?"

"Because," said Terra, seeming to be the one doing most of the talking.

"Well," said April, "she's bound to want to tell someone aside from us two," she indicated herself and River, "in all of eternity!"

"Eternity," I breathed.

"Well," said Terra, "that's a bit of an exaggeration, since I have only been alive around…" she got quieter, "sixty…five…million years…"

I was astonished—she must have been one of the first people ever to live! She was a real authentic Stone Age girl! She must have seen mammoths! She could've met Da Vinci! Or Shakespeare!

"Save it, please," said April. "we've heard all her stories—they aren't as interesting as you think."

"Can you please stop listening to my thoughts, or watching my aura, or whatever it is you're doing? It's really creeping me out."

"Sorry."

"Anyway," continued Terra, looking irritably at April, "as I was saying. Some people—no one knows how some people get it when no one else they ever know has it—but some people can actually see characters from books, movies, videogames, or practically any type of media you can imagine. You have to read the book, or see the movie or whatever, and then seven days from when you started, you can see the character. Some people, like me, start to see them at an early age; I started noticing when cave drawings came off the walls and danced for me. But, I got exiled for being a witch, and that's how I got bitten by the first vampire—a helpless child all alone… perfect prey for a vampire. But don't worry—I…dealt with him." She grimaced at the memory. "As I was saying. Then, as Pangaea was breaking up, soon I was living in what is now Forks. I moved here recently, as the Cullen clan arrived. Although, I suppose for you, a few decades isn't all that recent… anyway, I've been here a while, only deciding to go to school a few years ago. I can re arrange my molecules—like I showed you—so I made myself kindergarten age, and I went to all the parent teacher meetings as my mom or dad."

"Why not just send your mom or dad?" I asked.

"Well," she said hesitantly, "I WAS basically a cavewoman…" she trailed off. Then it hit home.

"Oh, I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…" She laughed.

"Sure, they've been dead since the first ice age, but I don't miss them—it has been sixty five million years. Plus, they were all for banishing me once they found out about my little talents."

"Talents?" I said, emphasizing the 's'.

"Oh, right. I forgot. I also have complete control over the earth—the element, not the planet. April can see auras, and control air. River can change her temperature to anything at all, and not die because of temperature change, like hyperthermia, and her element is water."

"Oh." This would take a while to get used to.

That night, I played Brawl for about a half hour, and then I went up to bed and read. My mom came in to say good night, and told me not to read too much longer, but I read long into the night.

Around eleven o'clock, I heard my window slide up. I never locked it because there was no way for anyone to get in anyway; there were no trees or anything around. My room was on the second floor, and there was another floor that my mom and brother slept on above me, so getting in from the roof was out of the question. So who could it be opening my window?

I had just finished Twilight seconds before, and I had been ready to turn out the light.

A slight shape detached itself from the shadows, and then came over to me. As soon as he stepped into the light, I recognized Edward Cullen.

He nodded at me, and turned to go back to the window. I wanted to say something to him, make him come back, but my own tongue wouldn't obey me, and I could think of nothing to say. So I could only watch as he slid himself out the window and closed it gently behind him. For lack of anything better to do, I leaned over and flicked off the light.

_I sat up to my mother's voice, and she said, "Emily, are you alright?" _

_I told her I was fine._

_She said, "Oh, I thought you might have still been at your friend's house."_

_"Why? What's wrong?" I could tell something was up from her tone, and the way she kept wringing her hands._

_"I don't know how to tell you this, but…there was a fire on Mallard. Terra and River live there, right? 77 and 107, and all the houses 75 to 110 were affected. Two girls died. One thirteen and one twelve. Their names were River and Terra. I'm so sorry."_

_"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

I shouted and sat up. I was in my bed, and it was morning. The question was, how much of it was a dream? Had I dreamed of Edward, too?

My mother rushed in then, asking if I was okay.

"Yes. Just a nightmare. Mom—was there a fire on Mallard?"

"No! What ever gave you that silly idea?"

"Nothing." I sank back into my pillows in relief.

"Emily, I'm sorry, but I have to go to a job application today, and I'm dropping Jordan off at a camp I signed him up for. Just a day camp; you won't have to put up with him. But I didn't do anything for you, so…you'll just have to stay home alone."

"That's okay mom, I can just heat up some pasta for lunch, and I know how to make cereal. I'll wait till you get home for dinner."

"Great. Love you!" She came and kissed me on the cheek. "See you later then."

"Bye mom!"


	3. Chapter 3

_**I must apologize—I haven't disclaimed. I only own (with my friend and co-writer, Natasha) Emily, Terra, River, April, Jordan (Emily's brother) and Emily's mother. That's it. And congratulations to iloveedwardcullenXDXD for being my first reviewer ^^ This one's for you!**_

I decided to start reading New Moon, the next book in the series of Twilight. One of my best friends from back home, Allison, had given the entire series to me as a goodbye present, saying I would like them.

But then, after reading for an hour and a half, I got really hungry. So, I grudgingly put my bookmark in to mark my spot, and went to the kitchen. I got myself some cereal and a glass of good old orange juice.

I had just finished my cereal, and was about to polish off the OJ, when I heard a noise: bam, _bam, __**CRUNCH**_!

I got up, OJ In hand, to see what had happened. I walked into the front hall, and nearly walked into a fist.

It was sticking through my front door.

I could think of nothing better to do, so I pulled the door open, dodging the pale fist.

As the door swung open, a large person got pulled into the hall. He looked at me with a friendly smile, his face turned sideways because his fist was still stuck in the door.

"Um…" he said, pulling his fist out of the door, and spraying me with wood chips in the process. "Sorry about that. We'll have to fix that up for you. Hi! My name is Emmett Cullen!"

My head was spinning. Emmett? So maybe I hadn't dreamed of Edward last night…

Before I knew what was happening, my glass of OJ was shattered on the floor, my mouth open in a piercing scream. I fell down on the floor, my last sight of Emmett, his face carved in a mask of concern. Just before the blackness swallowed me, I heard a velvety voice, just like I had imagined Edward's, saying, "Now look what you've done, Emmett! We have to fix that door, and you actually made her pass out…"

"Emily!" A smooth voice called me from the void in which I was resting. "Emily, please! I didn't mean to scare you!"

My eyes fluttered open. I could see two golden eyes about a foot from mine. Emmett, I thought. I immediately felt a cold, rock-solid hand cover my mouth.

"Chill, Emmy," said Tierra's voice. I was sure it was her. "She won't give you away."

The hand left my mouth. Why was Tierra here?

"She's here," said Edward's voice, "because we are."

Oh, right—Edward can hear thoughts. Maybe I was still dreaming?

"This is no dream, Emily," said Edward seriously. "This is as real as you, or—well, as…me."

I pushed myself upright. I was lying in bed, and I was surrounded by Emmett, Edward, April, Terra, River and Alice Cullen. I was just wondering why she was here, when both Edward and April started saying, "Because—"

Then they glared at each other and River started laughing.

"Terra," I said, remembering a few things I had thought if last night.

"Yes?"

"If you were bitten sixty five million years ago, but Twilight only came out recently, how—"

"Simple," said Terra. "Some things exist before their books, or whatever media. Then, some random author or whoever comes up with a brilliant idea—"here she looked at April "—to write a book or make a videogame or whatever of it. Because of this, whichever person is a character in this game or book etcetera, becomes insubstantial and invisible to anyone without the gift, or who hasn't read the book etcetera. Wow, I like that word! Etcetera…okay, back on topic. There's only one case where this didn't happen, and that's because the…person in question…was actually split into three characters. So, three people came into insubstantiality, where the real person remained."

"What about," I said, "if the people didn't exist before the book?"

"Then they have less solidness to those with the gift than those who were alive…or not…before so."

Everyone had been patiently listening to Terra's hypnotic voice, but just then, Luke come in the door, followed by Esme and Carlisle Cullen. Esme was carrying a tray, which she set on my lap. On it was a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a cup of tea.

"Thank you," I said surprised.

"No trouble at all," said Esme kindly.

"All you need is a little rest," said Carlisle, "And you'll be back to normal in no time. Your mother doesn't need to know what happened. You can tell her if you want to, though."

"N—no that's okay," I stammered.

Carlisle nodded at me, then he and Esme left. Terra turned to everyone assembled and said, "Okay, you heard the man. Let's go."

Everyone started leaving, and Alice said, "I saw this was going to happen, but I couldn't get here before my bear of a brother. I'm sorry."

She grinned at me, and I smiled as I said, "It's okay, Alice."

"You're right!" she cried, turning to Terra. "She does know me!"

Alice reached into her pocket and tossed something to Terra, who waved a roll of cash at me.

"You bet on it?" I said. "That's totally unfair! You knew I would know her!"

"Ah," said Terra, eyes glinting, "But she could have seen it coming, and she didn't use all of her resources. Besides, it was her idea."

I smiled.

"Hey," I said, remembering my dream, "I dreamed there was a fire, and you and River died."

She laughed. "Luke would never let that happen. He's basically been my brother since he found me halfway through the first ice age!"

I laughed along with her.

Terra was the last to leave. For some reason, they were all leaving through the window instead of the door.

"Terra?"

"Yes," she said, turning to me.

"Why isn't anyone just taking the door?"

"Because," she said, grinning, "Your front door is…under repairs."

"Right," I said.

She was about to swing herself over the sill when I said, "Terra, who was the one who didn't go insubstantial?"

She turned her head, but stayed facing the window.

"Me."

And with that, she swung herself out of sight, and I noticed her ears were pointed and she shone in the light. As I saw her run across the back lawn, her sparkling skin dulled and became normal, if a little pale.

I wondered and wondered who she could have been. Was she from a book? Maybe a movie? I didn't think she had been in Twilight—I would have noticed, but could she be in one of the next books? But that didn't explain the pointed ears of her true form…

About half an hour of mind-wracking later, I got up and went to the living room, firing up the good ol' Wii. I slid the Brawl disk into the disk slot and waited. I remembered Terra saying something about Link. I wondered if it was the Link from here?

Anyway, I was having a good rally as Pit against CPU Fox, Zelda and Ike. Well, Zelda was actually Sheik at the moment, but whatever.

Just then, I heard the door upstairs, and my mom's voice calling, "Emily, I'm home!"

I turned off the Wii and went upstairs.

Mom stood there, dripping wet, and Jordan was beside her looking cranky.

"Is it raining? Jordon, what's up?"

"Yes, Emily, its pouring buckets out there! And Jordan's just a little upset because his camp had to cancel their soccer game."

"I see."

Jordan took off his shoes and went upstairs, probably to his room.

"The funny thing is," said my mom, "Is that the weather channel didn't predict any rain."

I would have bet that Alice didn't work with the weather channel.

"Sorry, I'm so late getting home," said Mom. "I'll start dinner, and then you should get ready for bed. But traffic was awful, and I needed groceries…right! The groceries are…in…the…car."

I rolled my eyes. I went upstairs to read while mom dashed in and out of the house, arms loaded with groceries.

Dinner was uneventful, as was the rest of the evening.

Up until around 9:00.

I looked out my window at the pouring rain, and I was sure I could see a figure with long blonde hair dancing in the rain.


End file.
